Merit should trump politics everytime but South Africa is a special case. If I could put it into perspective, on one extreme, we could go the Zimbabwe cricket route and forcefully implement national representation in the team, or we can pursue the other extreme, remove the SAF flag and representation from the Protea's team and rebrand them as "A Cricket Team in South Africa" thereby losing all rights to represent the country.

Both options are repugnant! Somehow we have to find a compromise in the middle that benefits everyone!

FFS, are you even reading any of my replies?

Of course there has to be transformation, and it has to start from the ground up. An African in the Test team would be awesome though, but who the **** would you put in now, and in place of who?

SAns in general don't care who represents them (see the support for the white Springboks and the black Bafana), but we do need to see an increase in African representation.

I think neither of you are in disagreement with each of your main points in that the change mustn't happen in the national team but right from the ground up.

that's not correct. One of them would like to see a compromise around quotas.

I got great enjoyment shouting "WHY THE **** ISN'T THIS GAME BEING PLAYED AT THE BASIN?!>!?!?" to reasonably significant cheers from the sparse crowd

one day NZ will bring chappell to his knees in a puddle of his own tears and you'll see Phlegm on his belly greedily tasting every delicious tear before watching the hope fade from that old ****s eyes.

that's not correct. One of them would like to see a compromise around quotas.

must've missed that, my bad.

I can get all sacrosanct about always selecting the best team etc etc Test Match Cricket blah blah blah. Honestly, I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with putting a little quota bias in now and again if it's good for a) SAC and B) SA in the long run.

That said, I'm not South African, and I'm also not a player likely to miss out because of this.

tbh though, the only players who I've actually heard complaining about a quota system were nowhere near the national team at the time, and that to me just sounded like whingeing.

that's not correct. One of them would like to see a compromise around quotas.

Quotas can work, to a degree.

When Ntini made his Test debut he was not deserving of a place, although he was on the fringes.

Right now, I don't think there is any African cricketer (apart from Tsolekile) who is even on the fringes of the Test XI. That is what I'm trying to point out.

We're also going into racial classification territory here, which we all thought went out with the last lot, in 1994.

The SA government classifies Africans, Indians, and Coloureds as 'black'. Therefore, in SA's last Test match, five of the XI were 'black' (Petersen, Amla, Duminy, Peterson, and Philander). Now they're not 'black' enough.

Now, how do we tell the difference between Africans and Coloureds? Are we going to use apartheid-era classifications, such as the infamous pencil test?

Cricket is the main team summer sport in South Africa. You can play your football and rugby in the winter and in your teen years you hone your skills and see where it takes you. For example Herschelle Gibbs, Eddie Barlow, Peter Kirsten and the likes would have played representative rugby and even for the Springboks. AB de Villiers could have become a golfer or tennis player and earned more money but chose cricket. Thami Tsolekile and Jonty Rhodes could have chosen hockey. Dudley Nourse could have chosen football. These are just some examples of cricket winning due to it's popularity with those players.

When we became the best side in the world in the 60's we could have carried that on into the Apartheid years with a great rivalry with the West Indies. Since we have come back from isolation for the last 20 years we have not dropped out amongst the elite teams and will have the best test and ODI records behind the great Australian side. To me that is not punching above our weight. You can only do that for so long. We have passionate cricket fans in this country and loads of young players taking up through Bakers mini cricket of all races and creeds and that is why we produce such good cricketers.

When we became the best side in the world in the 60's we could have carried that on into the Apartheid years with a great rivalry with the West Indies. Since we have come back from isolation for the last 20 years we have not dropped out amongst the elite teams and will have the best test and ODI records behind the great Australian side. To me that is not punching above our weight. You can only do that for so long. We have passionate cricket fans in this country and loads of young players taking up through Bakers mini cricket of all races and creeds and that is why we produce such good cricketers.

Whether it's punching above your weight or not doesn't matter, you'd be better off with the black population playing more cricket, without a doubt.

When Ntini made his Test debut he was not deserving of a place, although he was on the fringes.

Right now, I don't think there is any African cricketer (apart from Tsolekile) who is even on the fringes of the Test XI. That is what I'm trying to point out.

We're also going into racial classification territory here, which we all thought went out with the last lot, in 1994.

The SA government classifies Africans, Indians, and Coloureds as 'black'. Therefore, in SA's last Test match, five of the XI were 'black' (Petersen, Amla, Duminy, Peterson, and Philander). Now they're not 'black' enough.

Now, how do we tell the difference between Africans and Coloureds? Are we going to use apartheid-era classifications, such as the infamous pencil test?

That is why we as a nation won't move forward. It is all about classifications still. We need to move past it but if you go for a simple job interview to this day you still have classify which skin colour you are.

I mean to get into a university as a doctor you have to get 90% as a white or chinese, 80% as a coloured and Asian and 70% as a black.

Why don't more white kids play football then and we see more white players play for Bafana ? Same with cricket, you can't force all black kids to play cricket.

So there is no guaranteeing if more blacks played cricket they would be better than the whites and if more whites played football they would be better than the blacks.

All you can do is let them enjoy the sport they play and see where it takes them.

yeah but when you see massive differences wouldn't you want to promote the sport towards a proprtion of the population that could provide a good playing pool?

One thing people don't realise is that here in NZ, more kids play soccer than rugby. By a long, long way. But the point is that they're exposed to rugby and thus have the option of playing, therefore all socioeconomic groups have a chance to contribute to the sport.

Why don't more white kids play football then and we see more white players play for Bafana ? Same with cricket, you can't force all black kids to play cricket.

So there is no guaranteeing if more blacks played cricket they would be better than the whites and if more whites played football they would be better than the blacks.

All you can do is let them enjoy the sport they play and see where it takes them.

And football is very popular amongst whites too, especially English-speaking whites and those from immigrant communities, such as the Portuguese and the Greeks. There are also a fair few whites playing in the PSL.

yeah but when you see massive differences wouldn't you want to promote the sport towards a proprtion of the population that could provide a good playing pool?

One thing people don't realise is that here in NZ, more kids play soccer than rugby. By a long, long way. But the point is that they're exposed to rugby and thus have the option of playing, therefore all socioeconomic groups have a chance to contribute to the sport.

No doubt about it. I've been crying out for the authorities to keep working at grass roots level because that is a way to get interest up but there are still no guarantees.

I agree with you completely, but you also missed the whole point of my argument.

Which African can we put into the Test team, today, that will not be completely out of their depth?

How do you think Themba Bavuma is going to do against Mitch Johnson, Siddle etc? He will be blown away.

Tsolekile is the only viable option, and now that AB is in good form with the gloves I doubt he will get a look in.

I have read all your posts and while I will admit that I am being quite emotive and somewhat combative, it is you who fails to understand that we live in a constitutional democracy where the majority rules. That one undeniable fact must drive all other national dialogue, discourse and decisions. The premise of your article is wrong because in it you seek to establish cricket South Africa as the absolute center of the debate when in fact it should be the health and prosperity of the country as a whole.

I get you! If I also placed cricket front and center in my universe, then me and you would be singing in the same choir!

If you cannot understand this, then it is best that we discontinue this conversation.

I have read all your posts and while I will admit that I am being quite emotive and somewhat combative, it is you who fails to understand that we live in a constitutional democracy where the majority rules. That one undeniable fact must drive all other national dialogue, discourse and decisions. The premise of your article is wrong because in it you seek to establish cricket South Africa as the absolute center of the debate when in fact it should be the health and prosperity of the country as a whole.

I get you! If I also placed cricket front and center in my universe, then me and you would be singing in the same choir!

If you cannot understand this, then it is best that we discontinue this conversation.

How am I putting cricket at the centre of the nation's debate?

SA has massive socio-economic problems, and much has to be done to fix them. But I fail to see how putting someone who does not deserve to be in the Proteas Test XI will fix any of these problems.

I suppose it is the affirmative action question. Should a black guy be appointed over a white guy to any position? Yes, if the black guy is as qualified as the white guy (or even slightly less qualified, but if he has the right skills and qualifications to be a success). That's what it comes down to with the Test XI, no black guy is even close to being in the Test side on merit alone.